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Thread: Spotty

  1. #1
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Dear Friends,

    Thought I'd show you this cute little hyena tonight. They are really adorable at this age and inquisitive and have such facial expressions...I think I did mention before, cubs are born pitch black and with teeth and they develop those adult markings at about three months. This youngster just came above ground from the subterranean den to join a few adults. By the way, adults are unable to access the den's narrow channels

    Nikon D5
    Nikon 500mm F4
    ISO 1600
    F8
    1/3 EV
    1/1600s

    PP as usual, nothing fancy, a few adjustments in LR and PSCC. Full frame. Forgot my readers at work so sharpness might be an issue, do let me know what you think. Comments and RP's welcome. Many thanks for taking the time to view - I truly appreciate it.

    Warmest regards,

    Gabriela
    Last edited by Gabriela Plesea; 10-04-2021 at 03:28 PM.
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Looks sharp and dwell detailed colours and tones look "spot" on!! I didn't realize how disproportionally large the head is in young cubs.

  3. #3
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you so much Jon,

    Indeed the cub's head looks a bit too big in comparison with the body...But somehow that makes him/her look cuter, don't you think

    A few more bits of info if anyone interested, been reading a lot on the species because I am quite fascinated with them. Will be brief so you won't get bored, LOL: usually a litter is made up of two cubs, sometimes three. When they are born their eyes are open, which is quite unusual for carnivores. As soon as the second cub emerges, the first one attacks it by grabbing it by the neck and shaking furiously. When the second cub is free of the placenta it starts fighting back. Amazing, right? This fighting goes on until dominance is established. Moms try to intervene when possible, but often the den's tunnels are too narrow and she cannot get to the little warriors. Therefore the subordinate cub grows much slower, he eats less and is obviously constantly under a great amount of stress. The competition/battle between the two continues and especially when both are female, sometimes ending in what is called ' siblicide' - one cub kills the other. Killing the 'competitor' means more milk for the winner, which greatly improves its chances of survival in the first year.
    There's so much interesting information resulting from research done on spotted hyenas over the past few years. The clan's life is said to be really complex and some researchers say hyaenas' social intelligence is on par with a number of primate species. Pretty fascinating

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    A nice sighting. The light gives some nice depth to the image. I do like the gaze from the little one. The head looks huge.

  5. #5
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Thank you John, they are truly adorable at this age, like little toys
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Macro and Flora Moderator Jonathan Ashton's Avatar
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    Thanks for pane#3 Gabriela, I have learned something!.

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela ... agree they are really cute when being a pup , but that goes dramatically away when growing up .... as we know.
    I do find them interesting , but will never make my peace with them .....

    Regarding the image .... nicely captured the look back and then nicely processed overall . I do like the colors and the overall tonal range .Crop and comp are working seamlessly together for me ... so you did well .
    If I am not wrong with my thoughts .... I would " remove" the vignette that might be added by you .... too much influence by grandmaster flash , well just my opinion . You and the master might like it ....

    Nice work , Madame and TFS Andreas

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Hello Andreas!

    Thank you so much for looking and comments, very much appreciated

    The Grand Master did not advise me on this one...Yet I am pleased to say, we seem to think alike ever so often

    And it is not a vignette as such, although my intention was indeed to create this dramatic effect to some extent. Used the tools in LR to drop exposure at the top of the frame and lifted shadows where too strong. Used burn tool in places (PSCC) to darken FG and dropped HL on some of the straw/grass. I wanted to place emphasis on the little one, vignettes a little too obvious so I prefer to employ less drastic methods

    Forgot to mention, this is FF. Glad to hear from you and happy that you are pleased with my work overall. I stick with my simple workflow and although I would love to explore more 'avenues' in PP I really do not have the time right now. As soon as I am settled in my new home I will take some time to explore the surroundings and hopefully meet new 'characters' to capture on camera

    Have a wonderful rest of the week Boetie Andreas!

    Kind regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    .... glad you taking this with a smile .
    As said I am ok with this overall and see where you are coming from ... was not thinking that the grandmaster had straight influence on this one , just in general . Nothing wrong with it .... though , if folks think alike .
    For me those lovely big ears are a bit dark .... I would expect them brighter , so I thought you have added some sort of vignette .

    Enjoy your week

    Cheers Andreas

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andreas Liedmann View Post
    .... glad you taking this with a smile .
    As said I am ok with this overall and see where you are coming from ... was not thinking that the grandmaster had straight influence on this one , just in general . Nothing wrong with it .... though , if folks think alike .
    For me those lovely big ears are a bit dark .... I would expect them brighter , so I thought you have added some sort of vignette .

    Enjoy your week

    Cheers Andreas
    I take everything folk say with a smile, and especially when it comes from an old friend! Proud that I take after the Grandmaster and quite a compliment when you say so

    Hope you too have a good rest of the week, I will try process some more images from the Kruger Park and share asap

    Sleep well Boetie
    Gabriela Plesea

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    BPN Member Andreas Liedmann's Avatar
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    Lekker slaap .....

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela, I like the framing, albeit a little more all round wouldn't hurt, but here I think looking to camera may have offered a greater relationship between subject and viewer and bolstered the 'cute factor'.

    Techs look good, but based on the laptop I think you could open the who image up more, it jut appears a bit dark??? If you add a vignette then it needs to be subtle, there but not seen. Also colour perhaps could go a little richer, but that might be personal taste.

    TFS
    Steve
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

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    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Hello Steve,

    Thank you for suggestions on PP, much appreciated! And I have a number of frames from this sighting so will look for an even 'cuter' one And maybe go richer in colour, will see what I can do

    Warmest regards,
    Gabriela Plesea

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    Wildlife Moderator Steve Kaluski's Avatar
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    Hi Gabriela, it’s just a thought on going ‘richer’ as I’m viewing on the laptop, but certainly a little more room.
    Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.

  16. #15
    Story Sequences Moderator and Wildlife Moderator Gabriela Plesea's Avatar
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    Richness I can try, but sadly no more room...Will look for another one, Steve
    Gabriela Plesea

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